[CAUT] Unauthorized "prepared pianos"

[David Ilvedson]

"Hitting a string with a marimba mallet is a  
different story, so there I would want to set limits."    

Why?   Isn't that a cloth covered mallet?   I don't see a problem unless they want to smash the mallet against the strings...

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044

----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: "Fred Sturm" <fssturm at unm.edu>
To: "College and University Technicians" <caut at ptg.org>
Received: 4/15/2008 1:30:27 PM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Unauthorized "prepared pianos"


>On Apr 13, 2008, at 6:39 AM, Kent Swafford wrote:

>> Things ebb and flow in popularity. Ten years ago, duo piano playing  
>> was all the rage, and we had to constantly maintain pairs of pianos.  
>> Now, inside-the-piano techniques appear to be particularly popular.  
>> There is too much inside-the-piano activity here to limit it to  
>> certain pianos. All pianists can understand that if inside-the-piano  
>> techniques cause damage, they won't have good pianos on which to  
>> play their traditional pieces. Unauthorized piano moving has caused  
>> considerably more damage than inside-the-piano techniques. For that  
>> matter, simple heavy playing can cause more damage to pianos than  
>> inside-the-piano techniques. I try to take care of a Yamaha MIDI C6  
>> at a church where the pianist (he did his undergraduate work at an  
>> Ivy league school) plays almost exclusively classical music. During  
>> the busy times of the year, I hear from him every couple weeks to  
>> repair broken strings, loose hammer heads, etc. The heavy playing  
>> and constant presence of new strings make it impossible to keep the  
>> piano in tune. And don't get me started about the damage caused by  
>> removing piano lids; I thought I had successfully banned the  
>> practice of removing piano lids; then one of the faculty scheduled a  
>> performance of Crumb's Makrokosmos III with Bartok's Sonata for Two  
>> Pianos and Percussion; off came the lids, but I was there myself to  
>> do it safely.
>>
>> From my point of view, I see little reason to single out inside-the- 
>> piano techniques.
>>
>> Kent Swafford

>	I agree with Kent's sentiments for the most part. When it comes to  
>reaching inside and plucking, strumming, touching nodes, and the like,  
>I agree wholeheartedly. This is simply so common, and really so  
>innocuous from the point of view of damage to the instrument (with  
>very few exceptions), that I think we need to simply accept it as a  
>given, as being standard use of a piano in the caut setting. Same goes  
>for various percussive effects produced by slapping or knocking on  
>various case parts. (Yes, one _can_ cause damage, but, as Kent points  
>out, moving, lid removal, and abusively hard playing can be more  
>destructive).
>	It is in the true "prepared piano" realm (Cage and Crumb being prime  
>examples, though Crumb is mostly "prepared on the fly" during the  
>course of performance) that I think a dedicated piano becomes  
>valuable. Partly because most of their works  of this ilk are written  
>with a six foot instrument in mind for strut placement and number of  
>bass strings, partly because then the instrument can be prepared in  
>advance and have things left in it between dress rehearsal and  
>performance. And, yes, partly because there is somewhat more  
>likelihood of damage of some sort, even if it is only a dropped screw  
>causing binding parts or the like. The dedicated piano would also be  
>indicated for such effects as use of percussive implements (mallets  
>and the like) on strings or other parts, with some degree of  
>supervision and consultation.
>	Our concert instruments are regularly plucked and strummed (the head  
>of the piano faculty composes music which makes some use of these  
>techniques - which would make it pretty hard for me to try to control  
>or prohibit them even if I wanted to). I have seen next to no damage  
>from this kind of activity, the sole exception being occasional  
>trichord dampers that are not seating (have been misaligned, and a few  
>seconds usually serves to correct the problem, though admittedly that  
>doesn't help in the concert situation where I am not present) - and  
>really I think that has only happened on rehearsal instruments, not on  
>the concert ones. I have never found that this activity causes tuning  
>issues, or at least none that is more severe than hard playing. Same  
>goes for "bowing" strings. Hitting a string with a marimba mallet is a  
>different story, so there I would want to set limits.
>Regards,
>Fred Sturm
>University of New Mexico
>fssturm at unm.edu